Nifong To Resign

Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong announced today that he intends to resign.

A tearful Nifong made the statement today as he took the stand in his own defense at his ethics trial in Raleigh.

He says regardless of the bar's decision, it wouldn't be fair to the people in Durham County to be represented by "someone who is not held in high esteem."

He says people will always remember the Duke lacrosse case and that his community has suffered enough. Nifong says many of the allegations against him are justified, but he says he's not a liar and always tried to do the right thing.

The North Carolina State Bar has charged Nifong with withholding critical D-N-A test results from defense attorneys, lying to the court and bar investigators and making misleading and inflammatory comments about the players.

The players have been cleared by North Carolina's attorney general.

Mike Nifong's announcement that he will resign came as a surprise even to his own attorneys and staff.

Lawyers for the Durham district attorney have said for months that the veteran prosecutor had no intention of stepping down from his post even though he faced ethics charges for his handling of the Duke lacrosse rape case.

Nifong apologized to the three lacrosse players who have since been cleared. But an attorney for one of the players says Nifong's apology is too little and comes too late.

Kerry Sutton, a Durham defense attorney who represented an uncharged lacrosse player, says Nifong made the right choice. She says she hopes it helps people regain confidence in the Durham judicial system.

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